Inside Carlisle's Vinyl Cafe on National Retro Day

So, to commemorate National Retro Day, I visited Carlisle's Vinyl Cafe, where aptly-named owner James Brown is feeling good about the future of the business. 

The shop, located on Abbey Street, sells a wonderful array of records, ranging from the Rolling Stones to Rod Stewart. 

Some of the records inside Vinyl Cafe (Image: Jimmy Moorhouse)

Mr Brown opened the shop back in 2016 and has enjoyed seeing the surge in sales that vinyl has experienced in recent years, despite the availability of streaming services.

He said: "We opened in July 2016 and now we have been here eight years. It's been a real journey.

"Since I was a kid, the love of music has run deep. I've loved playing guitar and writing songs since I was young, and had vinyl records handed down to me by my parents over the years. We source vinyl records from all over the world and they range from new to second-hand."

Mr Brown is excited for international record store day on April 20 (Image: Jimmy Moorhouse)

The resurgence of vinyl means that Mr Brown sees customers of all different age ranges in his shop. 

He said: "We have 80-year-olds who remember when Sgt Pepper by The Beatles was first released, and then you get younger people coming in and experiencing vinyl for the first time, which is good. It's great for music than vinyl is coming back because it allows the listener to sit down and shut out the world for a while. It's a bit like reading a book or going to the cinema, you're zoned out, which is really good for your mental health I think.

"I understand that streaming services are a great tool but for me, vinyl has never gone away. It's the experience of sitting down, and taking your time out, rather than pressing a button, where it becomes background music, rather than the focus. The artwork is amazing as well, people buy them just to display them as works of art."

When asked for his favourite vinyl, Mr Brown said, 'you haven't got two hours spare have you?'